Category Archives: Dining

Dining, Recipes

Recipe: Crab Corn Chowder

I haven’t written up a recipe in awhile. But rest assured, I stayed busy in the kitchen all year.

I tend to prefer broth-like soups, but every wet, cold wintry day demands a spicy stick-to-your-ribs seafood chowder.

This recipe pairs crab and corn together for liquid gold creamy goodness. During warmer months, I usually omit the potatoes, but recently DH demanded potatoes in his chowder, so in they went.

Lite crab corn soup – minus the potatoes

The result is a kicky, New England-style chowder that’s sweet, spicy and chunky.

Base:

  • 4 oz onion, chopped or diced
  • 1 tablespoons evoo (for onion saute)
  • 16 oz lobster broth
  • 15 oz canned cream corn
  • 8 oz light cream cheese
  • 1 tbsp chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (omit for less spicy)
  • .25 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp stevia or sweetener of your preference
Make your own lobster broth for best flavor! Slow cooked shells

Saute the onions over medium heat, then add the rest of the ingredients above and mix thoroughly. Immersion blend till desired liquid consistency. Pour into slow cooker, then add the following ingredients.

  • 16 oz russet potatoes, diced
  • 1 medium or large jalapeno, diced (remove veins for less spicy)
  • 4oz heavy cream
  • 2 tbsp corn starch
  • 6- 8 oz claw meat
  • 12 oz roasted corn
  • 2 to 3 sprigs of thyme

Slow cook until thickened and potatoes are tender and cooked through, about 20-30 minutes over high heat. I don’t recommend pressure cooking because there isn’t enough liquid in this recipe, which will trigger the burn warning. Slow cooking will let this dish develop its flavor over time and thicken as it cooks.

Prior to serving, stir in 6-8 oz of crab meat. Garnish with chives or green onions.

Dining, Recipes

Recipe: Sticky Rice with Kiwi

I thought it time to mix up my fave summer treat, mango and sticky rice, with a colorful twist. Golden kiwi and black/purple glutinous rice in sweet coconut milk. This is a gluten-free and “mostly” dairy-free dessert that I appreciate for its hot-and-cold temps in the same dish.

“Mostly” because the stevia I use at home is Trader Joe’s 100% Pure Stevia Extract powder that lists lactose in its ingredient info (the organic version does not contain lactose). If you’re paranoid about artificial sweeteners (or want to avoid the aftertaste), stick to regular sweeteners that contain sucrose, glucose or fructose. Authentic Thai sticky rice calls for palm sugar or coconut sugar.

This recipe requires a little prep time before getting to the end product. The rice needs to soak in water for about 4-6 hours, overnight if possible before steaming or cooking on the stove top.

My instructions call for a 30-45 minute stove top cook using a sauce pan with a vented lid.

  • 4oz black glutinous rice
  • 8oz water
  • 4.5oz coconut milk (reserve half a 9oz can)
  • 2 tsp stevia (or sub with sugar)

Bring to a boil, then partially cover with lid askew and simmer rice at low-medium heat. Cook until liquids are fully absorbed and rice becomes soft-sticky. Let cooked rice stand for 5 minutes while making the coconut milk sauce:

  • 4.5oz coconut milk
  • 2 tsp stevia (or sub with sugar)

Warm the coconut milk and stir in the sweetener until incorporated. Garnish with sliced fruit, in this case, I chose a medium sized golden kiwi, sliced. Arrange rice and fruit in a bowl or cup, drizzle with coconut sauce then  serve.

 

Dining, Recipes

Recipe: Taiwanese-style Three Cup Chicken or Pork

I’m a fan of cooking shows, especially the globe trotting kind. While he’s no Andrew Zimmern (whose Bizarre Food series I absolutely enjoy), I recently digested Ainsley Harriott’s street food series “Eat the Streets” on Netflix and was excited to try out some ideas I gleaned from the show.

One of them is a strangely familiar dish, bearing passing resemblance to Filipino adobo chicken…in which chicken parts are braised in a soy sauce base.

Three Cup Chicken/Pork is an easy poultry dish made herby with garlic, ginger and basil. As the meat braises in a spicy-salty-sweet sauce, the basil really gives this dish the perfect finish.

I found pre-cut drumsticks at my local 99 Ranch grocery, but you can chop your own or substitute chicken thighs. I’ve also cooked this with pork belly–which is especially divine.

Serious Eats’ article on San Bei Ji helped me refine some of the measurements and ingredients to suit my family’s tastes. As it stands this recipe contains a lot of heat, but feel free to adjust or omit the chili peppers.

  • 1-2lbs of chicken drumsticks, cut into 3rds (or pork belly)
  • 2oz black or toasted sesame oil
  • 2oz mirin or rice wine
  • 4oz kecap manis, sweet soy sauce
  • 1-2oz chopped garlic
  • 1-2oz ginger root, sliced into rounds
  • 5 pieces of thai bird chili peppers (less to moderate the heat)
  • .5-1oz thai basil

Over medium-high heat, saute garlic, chili peppers and ginger root in sesame oil until fragrant. Add protein, rice wine and sweet soy sauce and braise for 15-20 minutes. Add thai basil and toss until wilted.

Dining, Recipes

Recipe: Smoked Lamb Shoulder + Smoked Pulled Pork

Take 10lbs of lamb shoulder (we sourced ours from Central Market), rub generously with salt, pepper and garlic powder overnight, then smoke over oak and hardwood just like a beef brisket.

Mind you that this lamb shoulder does have a few rib bones in it, so a little more studious monitoring is required so it doesn’t overcook. Our Thermoworks Thermapen MK4 and Dot make this an easy task.

Most BBQ lamb recipes I’ve seen treats lamb like a steak, to be grilled or seared over high heat to a rare temperature. In this instance we are cooking low-and-slow for juicy, fatty, shred-ready pulled lamb.

We wrapped the lamb shoulder at the 165F mark and smoked till internal meat temps reached 195F-200F in our BGEXL, again as we would a beef brisket. I should mention that we also had a pork shoulder (boston butt/picnic) also sharing grill space with the lamb that we sauced and wrapped at the stall temperature. (Our favorite bottled sauce on most everything barbecue is Trader Joe’s Organic Sriracha & Roasted Garlic BBQ  Sauce.)

Once rested, we started pulling the meats apart and feasted on the bbq goodness for over 2 weeks.

 

Dining, Recipes

Recipe: Chimichurri

Why did I make this? Coz it goes SOOOO well with lamb.

We smoked a 10-pound lamb shoulder we sourced from Central Market about a week ago and I knew that this was the perfect condiment for it. I’ve been eating lamb and chimichurri for more than a week now and I can’t get enough of either!

Chimichurri + Pulled Lamb = Delicioso!

Inspired by Real Food by Dana, I made my own  homemade chimichurri. This version is knock-your-socks-off herby + citrusy, giving any dish an eye-opening refreshing zing.

The end result is that not only did this recipe pair smashingly with lamb, it also tasted great on chicken breast, beef brisket and pulled pork as well.

1 bunch or 1.5 cup, Cilantro
1 bunch or 1.5 cup, Curly Leaf Parsley
1 oz, Garlic, roasted
1.5 oz, Red Onion
.5 oz, Basalmic Vinegar (I used Pompeian Pomegranate Infused Balsamic Vinegar)
2 oz, Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
0.5 oz, Lemon juice
1 oz, Water
0.25 tsp, Ground Black Pepper
0.25 tsp, Fine Sea Salt
2 tbsp, Garlic powder

I threw all ingredients into my Oster Pro 1200 Blender and pureed it into a paste–which worked out surprisingly well. Just for note, the texture of this paste is dry and differs significantly from some other recipes that feature a more sauce-like form, useful for marinades and basting. An easy modification if desiring the latter is to add more olive oil.

As posted, makes roughly about 10-12oz (only because I didn’t weigh the fresh herbs). So nutrition values below are an estimate for a half ounce serving.

Nutrition calculator:
Calories 48 (per .5oz serving)
Total Fat 3 g
Total Carbohydrate 7 g
Dietary Fiber 1 g
Sugars 2 g
Protein 1 g